Heading into action on August 15th, the New York Yankees were on a nine-game winning streak, sat 60 (!) games above .500, held an 18.5-game lead in the AL East, and were on track to win a whopping 121 games. Over the next five weeks, they would go 18-19, and while the division title never came into serious question, they lost their shot at the all-time wins record, still held by the 1906 Chicago Cubs.*
*116; yes, the 2001 Mariners also won that many, but the Cubs did it in 10 fewer games and at the time, 2001 was obviously in the future.